Stirring the discussion...
Hey brothers,
It's been awhile since the discussion has been going, and I was hoping to start a new discussion that is related to most of the discussions we've been having, and something I have been experiencing myself since I entered into Seminary. Thinking back to Bonhoeffer's book Life Together, which I haven't read in ages but only vaguely remember a passage of (I'll have to do some investigating), I seem to remember him talking about 'spiritual community,' and how it cannot exist apart from or take the place of natural community, because then it becomes something artificial, something unhealthy. Rather 'spiritual community' is something that augments natural community, that is, our current friendships, family relations, traditions, and natural roles that we filled, which are rooted in who we are naturally (our personalities and temperments) and how they come together to make a sort of culture, whether that's a family culture, the culture of a group of friends, or the culture of a church as an association of many different families and their friendships, and the connections, roles, and dynamics that develop naturally. So my question is, how does our trinitarian community through the Spirit of God, our 'spiritual community,' interact with our natural communities?
This is something I have begun to question in myself, a question that has arisen out of a deepening doubt in myself and my ability to minister to anyone, feeling quite overwhelmed with the calling to study, think, grow, and also die daily and give myself up for my brothers and sisters, for God and my neighbor, always feeling there is more I could give, but that I don't want to or can't, and I am really exhausted. Mentally exhausted for running over and over again in my head how I could have been more loving, could have been more charitable, feeling selfish even for taking a few moments to do something I wanted to do for myself but feeling like I needed that.
Out of this doubt I have really begun to evaluate who I am, what my own personality is like, and how I fit into my family, my friendships, and the community here at Dubuque Seminary. I think that before I was trying to be 'spiritual' in a sense that was not very natural, was not really myself, and it felt like I was being fake when I did it, and I was being selfish when I did not. The reality is were are called to be disciples of Christ, but we cannot help every suffering person, we cannot feed every hungry person, we cannot fix all of the problems of the world or even our families, and to think that we can do so is very overwhelming. I felt completely responsible, but completely helpless both at once. Several times I have wanted to quit, to give the whole thing up and just get an easy job somewhere, maybe come back to Wichita and spend time with my family and friends there.
But I think that I've been going about it all wrong, trying to be 'spiritual' unnaturally, and I think that I see that going on in a lot of ways all around me. People ask me "Eric, how are you doing," and I know that they care, but do they really want to hear how I'm doing, and do I really want to tell them? People say "How are you doing?" unstead of a simple "Hello" these days, and I think that it's all well meaning and that they do care, but everybodies so busy we don't have time to care. But I think I'm getting into another topic here. So I reiterate my question, how does 'spiritual community' relate to our own natural communities, and how do we live out our calling in obedience without feeling like we have to save everyone, or that we even can?
It's been awhile since the discussion has been going, and I was hoping to start a new discussion that is related to most of the discussions we've been having, and something I have been experiencing myself since I entered into Seminary. Thinking back to Bonhoeffer's book Life Together, which I haven't read in ages but only vaguely remember a passage of (I'll have to do some investigating), I seem to remember him talking about 'spiritual community,' and how it cannot exist apart from or take the place of natural community, because then it becomes something artificial, something unhealthy. Rather 'spiritual community' is something that augments natural community, that is, our current friendships, family relations, traditions, and natural roles that we filled, which are rooted in who we are naturally (our personalities and temperments) and how they come together to make a sort of culture, whether that's a family culture, the culture of a group of friends, or the culture of a church as an association of many different families and their friendships, and the connections, roles, and dynamics that develop naturally. So my question is, how does our trinitarian community through the Spirit of God, our 'spiritual community,' interact with our natural communities?
This is something I have begun to question in myself, a question that has arisen out of a deepening doubt in myself and my ability to minister to anyone, feeling quite overwhelmed with the calling to study, think, grow, and also die daily and give myself up for my brothers and sisters, for God and my neighbor, always feeling there is more I could give, but that I don't want to or can't, and I am really exhausted. Mentally exhausted for running over and over again in my head how I could have been more loving, could have been more charitable, feeling selfish even for taking a few moments to do something I wanted to do for myself but feeling like I needed that.
Out of this doubt I have really begun to evaluate who I am, what my own personality is like, and how I fit into my family, my friendships, and the community here at Dubuque Seminary. I think that before I was trying to be 'spiritual' in a sense that was not very natural, was not really myself, and it felt like I was being fake when I did it, and I was being selfish when I did not. The reality is were are called to be disciples of Christ, but we cannot help every suffering person, we cannot feed every hungry person, we cannot fix all of the problems of the world or even our families, and to think that we can do so is very overwhelming. I felt completely responsible, but completely helpless both at once. Several times I have wanted to quit, to give the whole thing up and just get an easy job somewhere, maybe come back to Wichita and spend time with my family and friends there.
But I think that I've been going about it all wrong, trying to be 'spiritual' unnaturally, and I think that I see that going on in a lot of ways all around me. People ask me "Eric, how are you doing," and I know that they care, but do they really want to hear how I'm doing, and do I really want to tell them? People say "How are you doing?" unstead of a simple "Hello" these days, and I think that it's all well meaning and that they do care, but everybodies so busy we don't have time to care. But I think I'm getting into another topic here. So I reiterate my question, how does 'spiritual community' relate to our own natural communities, and how do we live out our calling in obedience without feeling like we have to save everyone, or that we even can?
posted by Anonymous at 2:55 PM
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